Happy new year!
It's been a while since my last post, and lots has happened in the interim. On my birthday, my family came over and we moved Gorgeous Fabrics' Galactic Headquarters to the new offices. I'm so excited! I added roughly half again as much space, so I now have lots of room. That's good, because I then went on a big buying trip last week and I'm still working to put those fabrics up. So check the site often over the next couple of days to see the latest additions.
Sewing Fails Happen
I also did some sewing. I had started on a peasant style top in a rayon challis that has been in my stash since early last year. The good (I guess?) thing about owning a fabric store is that if some fabric has a mis-print or mis-weave that makes it unsaleable, I get to use it. Alas, as I was sewing this top, I realized that, 1 - I don't like peasant style blouses on me, and, 2 - the colors in this really don't suit me. So, this top became my first wadder in a while.
Lessons Learned
Here's the first lesson: allow yourself to fail. Sometimes a project is just not "you", and to keep working on it would sap your sewing mojo, or worse. In those cases, you're better off accepting the inevitable and recycling or reusing the fabric.
Second lesson: know thyself. If a project is really far outside your style or color (or both) wheelhouse, think long and hard if you want to invest your time and creativity into something you might never wear. You can finish it and donate it or just fall back, punt, and use the fabric for something else.
Naughty Bobbin Presto Popover Top
Once I freed myself from the peasant top, I wanted a palate cleanser, as it were. I live in knit tops, jeans, and jackets at the office, so a new top seemed to be an obvious choice. I decided to try something new, and I've been an admirer from afar of Naughty Bobbin Patterns. I saw she was having a sale on the Presto Popover Top, so I bit and downloaded it. All sizes are included, from S to XL. It also is available in sizes 1X to 4X. I made the medium with no adjustments.
The pattern has three pieces: front, back, sleeve. The front extends the neckline to the center back. One of the interesting features of this pattern is that you cut two fronts and sew them together at the CF and center back neckline. This makes a cool finish to the top. It also gives you good coverage if you use a thin knit or a mesh fabric. I used a double-brushed poly from Gorgeous Fabrics (long since sold out, sorry), which worked beautifully with this pattern. The back is attached using the "burrito" method, where you sew the back to one front, then pretzel it around to sew it to the other front. Mastering this method takes some visual thinking, but the instructions are quite clear and well illustrated.
You can optionally cut two backs as well. I didn't.
This top goes together very easily. If you use a plain or random-print fabric. I, on the other hand, decided to challenge myself by using a chevron motif. My primary concern was matching the chevrons at the center front seam. I did this by laying out the pattern and marking the match points very carefully. I basted the fronts together and checked them for proper matching before stitching the seam permanently. This took some extra time, but the results were very well worth it. Here's a closeup of the CF seam:
This pattern goes together very quickly and easily (if you don't use a persnickety print like I did). It fits me quite well - I suspect she drafts for a larger cup size, which is a big plus for me. The instructions are very good, the drafting is clean and all notches and markings match up well.
I was quite pleased with the way this top turned out. Here are some pictures:
And hey, I actually took a (really sucky selfie) of it on me!
Ah, how I wish I had the ego and patience to take a bajillion pictures and find one where I don't look pained. But I'd rather spend my time putting up more fabrics, so this'll have to do! 😂
In conclusion, I highly recommend this pattern. I'll definitely make it again. I'd like to try a sleeveless version for the warmer months. Eventually.
Happy sewing!
Ann
